Eve Online – The most advertised MMO ever
I am many things. Irish (half), Jewish (the wrong half (father’s side)), computer professional, borderline alcoholic, cigar smoker, writer, dreamer, and video game player. It is the last that holds the key to this post. I play in video games commonly called MMORPG’s, or MMO’s for short, or time sinks. Yes, I am 35+, and yes I play video games. If you haven’t read the article about who plays the most video games, how they are fat, depressed and 35+ check it out here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32463904/ns/technology_and_science-games/
It’s really a bogus study. But that isn’t what I wanted to write about. Eve online is. I have been playing this game for quite some time now. What fascinates me most isn’t anything about the game, its about how often I see it in advertising. Yahoo, Etrade, CNN, Wired, you name it. All these sites have massive amounts of Eve Online advertising. So, to those that have seen these over and over again, but have no idea what it means, let me put in a few words.
Eve is MMORPG. That’s Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game. MMORPG’s are games that have thousands of people playing while connected to the same, or groups of, servers. You can only play them online. They are very similar to Second Life. You have an avatar. Where they differ is in that you can level up, get more powerful, and do more things.
Eve has three things about it that make it unique. The first, its all on one server. Just like second life, there is just one world. Some MMO’s have multiple worlds, so even if you and your friend are playing the game, you may not be able to interact as you are on different server worlds. Eve only has one. I wish more MMO’s would adopt this strategy. Its a lot fun, makes for a more rich experience and I think a better game. The second unique item is that you are just a space ship. You have no avatar. You can swap out ships as you get more money. Ships come in many sizes and classes, can do many things and have multiple purposes.
The third unqiue thing about Eve is that you gain more power, experience, skills, simply by waiting. You choose what skills to train, wait for awhile, and they are trained. Doesn’t matter how many bad guys you kill, you won’t get any more experience.
It’s a fun game, mostly has PVP, that is player versus player combat, and a ‘wild west’ style areas of space. Most of it is owned by players. It’s a rough and tumble world where you can die in flames or earn a living by being a pirate, miner, businessman, or crook.
So that’s it, if you ever wondered what all those ads are on all those sites, virtually every one on the Internet, that is it. MMORPG’s aren’t for everyone. But they can be fun to play. If you ever want to give it a try, drop me a line here and I’ll look ya up.
